Gore presides as Congress certifies Bush's victory<\/p>\n
WASHINGTON (AP): With the vanquished Vice President Al Gore
\npresiding, Congress formally anointed George W. Bush as the
\nvictor in last year's achingly close and bitterly contested
\npresidential election.<\/p>\n
In a hoary constitutional ritual that made up with political
\nirony and shouted objections what it lacked in suspense, four
\nmembers of Congress read aloud documents Saturday certifying the
\nelectoral votes of each of the 50 states and the District of
\nColumbia, all in alphabetical order.<\/p>\n
When they finished an alternately raucous and humorous 92
\nminutes later, the Republican Bush had won by 271-266. To
\nprevail, the winner needed 270 of the 538 electoral votes
\nnationwide.<\/p>\n
Reading from a sheaf of papers, and showing no apparent
\nemotion, Gore intoned:<\/p>\n
\"George W. Bush of the state of Texas has received for
\npresident of the United States 271 votes. Al Gore of the state of
\nTennessee has received 266 votes. ... This announcement of the
\nstate of the vote by the president of the senate shall be deemed
\na sufficient declaration of the persons elected president and
\nvice president of the United States, each for the term beginning
\non the 20th day of January 2001, and shall be entered, together
\nwith a list the votes, on the journals of the Senate and the
\nHouse of Representatives.\"<\/p>\n
After announcing the results, Gore, a Democrat, said, \"May God
\nbless our new president and our new vice president, and may God
\nbless the United States of America.\" At that, he shook the
\noutstretched hand of House Speaker Dennis Hastert, and a number
\nof others, and it was over.<\/p>\n
Gore was presiding because it is one of the duties of the vice
\npresident. The last vice president defeated in a presidential
\nrace to oversee Congress' counting of the electoral votes was
\nRichard Nixon in 1961. Vice President Hubert Humphrey did not do
\nso in 1969, following his defeat by Nixon.<\/p>\n
The joint session of Congress drew extraordinary attention
\nbecause it was the final vote tally in a disputed presidential
\nrace that did not end until five weeks after the Nov. 7 election.<\/p>\n
Gore did not concede until Dec. 13, a day after the U.S.
\nSupreme Court forced a halt to vote-counting in Florida.<\/p>\n
Even so, House Democrats -- mostly blacks -- raised 20
\nobjections during the session aimed at blocking Florida's pivotal
\n25 electoral votes from being counted. Many Democrats have
\nasserted that Bush won Florida unfairly because some votes were
\nnot counted and because of a disproportionate number of
\nirregularities in largely black, mostly Democratic areas.<\/p>\n
\"It was the Supreme Court and not the people of the United
\nStates who decided this election,\" said Rep. Barbara Lee, over
\nshouts from Republicans.<\/p>\n
But time and again, Gore -- blending wit and formality --
\ndisallowed the objections because they were not also signed by a
\nsenator, as required by law. That shortcoming underlined the
\njudgment by many Democrats that the public had no patience to
\nresume battling over the election outcome.<\/p>\n
When an angry Rep. Maxine Waters said she did not care that a
\nsenator had not signed her objection, Gore responded, \"The chair
\nwill advise that the rules do care.\"<\/p>\n
The rules also forbade lawmakers to explain their objections.
\nMany tried but were quickly silenced by Gore amid grumbling from
\nRepublicans.<\/p>\n
At one point, Rep. Alcee Hastings among the complaining
\nlawmakers, cried out to Gore, \"We did all we could.\"<\/p>\n
\"The chair thanks the gentleman from Florida,\" Gore responded
\nwith a smile.<\/p>\n
After their objections failed, at least 16 House Democrats
\nfiled out of the chamber en masse.<\/p>\n
Gore pumped his right fist when California's 54 votes, the
\nbiggest electoral prize, were awarded to him. But he showed no
\nemotion when the 11 votes from Tennessee, his home state, went to
\nhis rival.<\/p>\n
Out of more than 100 million popular votes cast nationally,
\nGore won by nearly 540,000 votes, according to a count of the
\nfinal state tallies by The Associated Press.<\/p>",
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